But
if the edict served only to embitter the Southerners, to bind the
whole country together in a still closer league of resistance, and to
make peace except by conquest impossible, it was worth the price. The
party in the North which fought for the re-establishment of the Union
had carried on the war with but small success. The tale of reverses
had told at last upon recruiting. Men were unwilling to come forward;
and those who were bribed by large bounties to join the armies were
of a different character to the original volunteer. Enthusiasm in the
cause was fast diminishing when Lincoln, purely on his own
initiative, proclaimed emancipation, and, investing the war with the
dignity of a crusade, inspired the soldier with a new incentive, and
appealed to a feeling which had not yet been stirred. Many
Northerners had not thought it worth while to fight for the
re-establishment of the Union on the basis of the Constitution. If
slavery was to be permitted to continue they preferred separation;
and these men were farmers and agriculturists, the class which
furnished the best soldiers, men of American birth, for the most part
abolitionists, and ready to fight for the principle they had so much
at heart.
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